Forgiving People And Allowing Mercy To Prevail

No matter what anyone may think, the truth is that we cannot prevent offences from coming. In some occasions, the offences may not be willing, it may not even be in the intention of the person to offend you, or the person may not even be aware of such offences. So you need to forgive nonetheless. Holding unforgiveness against someone does not affect the person but you directly. As a matter of fact, there is an extra burden than comes into the heart by harbouring unforgiveness. So let go.

Forgiving People does not automatically mean that you approved of the offences nor does it mean that you are okay with it, it does not also mean that you should be friends with them if you do not want to, it means that you are not enemies with them, and it means that you have an open mind towards them. One thing to know is that humans (including you) are not perfect. As such, you should not expect a life free of offences from people. Expecting that will only lead you to disappointment when the offences come. But when you expect offences, you will brace up firmly for it. As long as you live on earth and as long as you relate and interact with others, then you do not have a choice of when offences will come, you only have a choice to forgive.

If everyone was to be punished for every slight offence, do you know the level of punishment you will be incurring daily? Or do you think you do not offend people yourself? Sometimes, we should just allow a place for mercy to lead, and not focusing on offences. Mercy is something that is not qualified for but it is still given nevertheless. Repaying an offence with another offence will not make you a better human, it will only eventually turn you into the monster that you wanted to fight. Do not be too quick to pick offences in people, you have to be more accommodating; knowing that everyone has their different backgrounds. Do not always fight people over the slightest offences, remember there is a place for forgiveness and you are not also immune to offending others. I remember what a friend once said:

Those that always fight monsters end up becoming the monsters that they have been fighting.

If you look closely and observe the people that are always quick to find fault in people or those that are easily offended by others, you will discover that their lives are not without some major offences. They might even eventually pick up the same faults that they are fighting in others. This is why you should not focus more on the negative sides of people but look at their good sides. It is weird that some people, after you have done many good things for them, just one bad thing that you did (maybe in error) will be all that they will remember, while your past good acts will go into oblivion. However, the same people would want you to always remember the few goods they did out of their numerous ills. So sad.

It is worthy to note that forgiveness and mercy work together. One cannot claim to be merciful if they cannot forgive someone for a wrong act they did. I have come to realize that there is a peace of mind that comes by forgiving people than by carrying grudges against them. If you have ever carried grudges against someone and you unexpectedly run into them in the mall for example, you will agree with me that your heart will skip some beats. This is to show you that unforgiveness comes with pressure, which is actually unhealthy for the body. So for the sake of the health of both your body and your mind, you should learn forgiveness. Note; you can forgive people and still not acquaint with them. Even though forgiveness may be a mandate, friendship is a choice.

Forgiveness should be without recourse to apology, after all it is the peace of your mind that matters. It is by forgiving others that you qualify for forgiveness. This brought to mind one verse from the Holy Book as I conclude with it:

Forgive us our offences as we forgive those that have offended us.

Thanks for reading